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. (No Model.) r 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. DANSEREAU.

CARRIAGE TOP.

No. 251,704. Patented Jan. 3,1882;

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. DANSEREAU.

CARRIAGE TOP. No. 251,704. l Patented Jan. 3,1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

PIERRE DANSEREAU, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

CARRIAGE-TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,704,.dated January 3, 1882.

Application filed November 5; 1881. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PIERRE DANSEREAU, of the city and district of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the. same.

This invention has reference to the construction and arrangementof avehicle-top adapted to be applied to any class of vehicle requiring a top, and iucludinga buggy, wagon, carriage, sledge, &c., and it can therefore be used with vehicles having one or more seats.

I have already obtained Letters Patent of the United States, granted me on the 5th July, A. 11-1881, under No. 243,860, and of Canada, granted me on the 7th May, A. D.

1881, undcrNo. 12,739, for an improvement in carriages, in which the top is made in two principal parts which close up, one principal.

part arrranged to close and turn forward, the other principal part to close and turn backward. By my present invention the whole top turns backward. In my said patented invention eight posts are required,as shown,to hold up the top. In my present inventiononly two are necessary. Nevertheless four may be used, if desired, in some cases. For these and other reasons, which will be understood by theffollowing specification, it will be seen that the present invention gives a much cheaper form of top than those at present in use, and one more applicable to all classes of vehicles.

In the drawings hereunto annexed similar letters of reference indicate like parts, and

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the application of my invention to a buggy. Figs. 2 and 3are modifications ot' the manner of dividing and closing the top shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the application of the invention to all classes of vehicles having more than one seat. Fig.5 shows the manner of closing the top shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a modification of the top shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is another lnodificati n of dividing the top. Fig, 8 shows the manner of closing and turning back the top in Fig.7.

I will now first refer to Figs. 1,2, and 3, which is the form for a buggy or one-seated vehicle, and afterward refer to the application to other vehicles.

Letter A is any ordinary body or seat, to which is attached, by ahinge, B, apost,G. On this is secured, as shown, a part of atop, D, having two sub-portions, E and F, as shown in Fig. 1, hinged, as shown at G and H, thereto, catches or fastcnings of the ordinary kind for such purposes being provided for securing the parts E'F in the relative positions shown in both dotted and full lines. and iastenings 1 do not claim any invention. Therefore I shall not describe them.

Regarding the top formed of the parts D, E, and 'F, it is constructed of alight wood or other soon become shabby from the folds and ribs formed by the bows, and these cannot be cured except by putting on anew covering, whereas by my rigid top, whenever it becomes shabby, paint and varnish will give it a perfectly new appearance, thus saving much expense in keeping the vehicle in a handsome and good condition. V I is an ordinary carriage -joint, and K the back curtain. In these no novelty exists.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the top is divided into two pal ts instead of three. Otherwise they will be constructed and arranged with the buggy in the manner above described for Fig. 1.

We now come to Figs. 4, 5, and (i. In Fig.

4. an outline of a three-seated vehicleis shown.

Here the top is divided into the parts or divisions D, E, and F. It is provided with the same posts 0, hinged to B, as shown in Fig. 1. Joints I will also be provided. The man ner of closing up this coveris shown in Fig. 5, and it is then turned down in the same way as the top in Fig. 1. It will be remarked that a long hinge, G, is used in this case to enable the part E to come to the position shown with the part F.

Kis the back curtain; A, the back seat; B, the front seat, and U the drivers seat. D is the front curtain, from which it will be seen that the driveris left out in the cold, &c., in the usual way."

In these catches To strengthen the junction of the post 0 with D, I should prefer to insert a.- strong anglefialate' or knee, as shown by dotted lines at By dotted lines I have indicated that, if desired,asecond pair of posts, H, may be added in front of the doorway for further firmness and support. These posts H will be made of such length that they are equal to the distance from 1 to 2, (see Fig. 4,) and willbe hinged to a distance-piece, H secured to the seat B, which makes up the whole distance from B to F, so that when turned down, as also indicated, they just reach, or nearly reach, the front curtain. The junction of the posts H with F will be formed with dowel-pins, and I should prefer to add a removable T-plate to cramp the three parts D, F, and H firmly together, which may be done by screw bolts passing through it and the framing and posts, or in any ordinary mannerin usein such cases. I are rests for the posts H to turn down to, so that when in that position they form arms to I the seat 13.

It willbe seen that in my present invention none of the turn-down parts extend beyond the front seat, B. Therefore no neck or space is required between the seat 13 and the drivers seat 0. I I

If the vehicle is to haveonly two seats, the seat B will be the drivers seat, and the curtain D will be dispensed with or removed back behind the seat B. y

The above description of Figs. 4 and 5 also applies to Fig. 6, the only difference being in the closing of the parts I), E, and F, and the manner shown is exactly like that in Fig. 1. In some cases to close the top in three parts, one beside the other, as in Fig. 5, may render it too thick to find space to turn down theposts 0 and clear the back of theback seat without making the posts 0 and posts H, if used, too long.

Side curtains may be provided, or, if desired, removable glass sashes, which may be put in place and secured when the posts are up and removed and put under one of the seats, &c.', when they are down.

I will now describe the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where the top is divided into the same three parts, D, E, and F, with two more parts, A. B added. The partD has the. posts 0 attached to it, as described for the other figures.

In Fig. 7 the posts H are shown with two hinges, H so that they will double up and turn down, as indicated by the dotted lines at H. The seats A B (J are the same relative seats described in Fig. 4.

Now, in the foregoing description the top 60 has been described as divided into two, three, and five parts, and from this any man of ordinary skill in the business will at once see that it may be divided into four parts. Therefore I do not think it necessary to describe such a division.

What I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

The combination of a vehioletop divided into rigid parts, all of which said parts are hinged together, and one of said parts being attached fixedly to the single pair of posts G, with the said posts 0 hinged to the bodyof the vehicle, and arranged to carry the whole of the top and turn back therewith, substantially as described. 7 5

PIERRE DANSEREAU.

Witnesses:

CHARLES G. G. SIMPSON, A. M. A. SIMPsoN. 

